Situational Power and Dominance
Situational power is an important factor enhancing and enabling domination. The one, who wants to do something, that he can do alone, has more situational power than the one, who wishes to stop him or to be and to do something together.
In a relationship, one partner has situational power, when
In nearly all relationships, there is some imbalance in the total situational power, which makes automatically one partner more vulnerable than the other.
The possession of situational power allows one partner to dominate directly by enforcing the priority of his own needs and indirectly by using the threat of his situational power to extort his selfish needs.
Situational power is an important factor enhancing and enabling domination. The one, who wants to do something, that he can do alone, has more situational power than the one, who wishes to stop him or to be and to do something together.
In a relationship, one partner has situational power, when
- he loves less.
- he cares less.
- he needs the other less.
- he wishes less to be together.
- he wishes less to share.
- he feels less a bond.
- he is physically stronger.
- he has exclusive access to resources and information.
- he has no basic values, how to treat a partner.
- he has no conscience restraining him.
In nearly all relationships, there is some imbalance in the total situational power, which makes automatically one partner more vulnerable than the other.
The possession of situational power allows one partner to dominate directly by enforcing the priority of his own needs and indirectly by using the threat of his situational power to extort his selfish needs.
Examples:
The one, who spends the couple's money, has the situational power to do so. The other cannot stop him.
The one, who wants to leave, has the situational power to do so, the other has no equal power to hold him back.
A decent man in a bonded committed relationship never uses any situational power, that he has. Instead he always communicates, in the examples to reach consent about how to spend money and when to be together and when to be apart.
A jerk does, what he wants. He takes it for granted and he feels entitled to use all situational power, that he has. He spends the money on himself. He uses the threat to dump the woman as his method of extortion of his selfish needs. If that does not work well enough, he does dump her and then offers her to take her back under the condition of her serving his selfish needs thereafter without any hesitation or resistance.
